Lincoln (Guest post by Collin Caneva.) I just completed testing for a new fitness boot camp. I'm not sharing this with you to brag, but because sales and this experience go hand-in-hand. To many people, "selling" is a dirty word. Of course every business needs sales, but the sales process is where the negative tone sometimes comes to mind. Who hasn't had an experience with a pushy, know-it-all salesman that seems numb to the word "no"? You say "no," but it seems like he/she hears "yeah, maybe" and keeps pushing. Yuck. Whenever someone cold calls me and wants to meet, I instantly build … read more

Kansas City (Guest post by Kirk Hasenzahl.) There are a number of tremendous ideas and new startups in the Silicon Prairie these days. It is an exciting time to be a startup around here. In all my worldly travels as a startup founder (2 years worth), it amazes me that many of the most incredible ideas I hear consistently are missing a key part to the solution: sales. The goal, I believe, is that at some point you do this to generate cash flow. Right? Or am I missing something? Even if you start a non-profit; money creates jobs, growth, and helps the company accomplish whatever ... read more

Kansas City (Guest post by Nathan Benjamin.) I don't pretend to have a fail-proof recipe for a successful business, but I do know that for us, it's about purpose, the planet and a bunch of people who all see a baseball game where others see only a field. A recent study in The Wall Street Journal found two-thirds of people would take a pay cut to work for a company that focused on sustainability. Why? Because we want our lives, and our work, to matter. InvenQuery was created around an environmental mission, and we stay true to that. It infuses who we are, what we do and why we do it. … read more